Robert's Italian Restaurant and Deli — Restaurant in Colorado

I have been to Robert's many many times over the past few years and have ALWAYS enjoyed it very much. Last night, unfortunately, was the absolute worst experience I have ever had there. Things were tough right from the start. It took a good 10 minutes for the waitress to greet us and take our drink order. Then once she did it took 15 minutes or so to get those drinks, bottle of wine and a gin on ice (not complicated drinks). Drinks were delivered and one glass was dirty and had lipstick on the rim. Once we all had clean glasses and drinks, we ordered calamari for an appetizer. This took an extremely long time to get to our table during which our dinner orders were not taken nor had we been checked on. Finally we order our dinner and another round of drinks (again bottle of wine and a gin on ice). The bottle of wine came in a reasonable amount of time but the gin on ice took at least another 10/15 minutes. During which I witnessed the waitress and bartender casually visiting with one another and another patron. This simple drink should have been delivered at the same time as the bottle of wine. Finally our order was delivered. One of our party had ordered the Italian Chopped Salad (which we have had many times before and thoroughly enjoyed) and immediately we knew that what was delivered was not what was ordered. The salad was supposed to include romaine, arugula, multiple Italian meats, red cabbage, cheese, chick peas, etc. What was delivered was a plate of iceberg lettuce (no romaine no arugula no red cabbage) maybe few pieces of diced salami, a few pieces diced cheese and a few chick peas. The waitress immediately knew we were not happy with this salad and offered to take it back. What she came back with was just a tad bit more salami on top, nothing else. To which she said she would talk to the kitchen again. She comes back out with a few more vegetables and tells us they ran out of the salad ingredients. Now this type of thing happens and we all understand that….what was not ok was that there was never a comment such as "can I get you something else" or "let me take that off your bill" or even partly off the bill. So we paid full price for a salad that was nowhere near what we ordered (we only paid for it because by the time we left, we just wanted to get out of there). Having been in the food industry before, I completely understand there being hard nights where things go wrong. This happens and it's hard to recover sometimes. What I find inexcusable is the fact that no one apologized for any of it. No "I am so sorry, we are a little backed up tonight…" or "I am so sorry your meal was not what was expected, can I get you something else" or anything of the sort. Also the wait staff never seemed to be interested in doing their part to make things better (example getting drinks to us in a timely manner). Unfortunately one of our party was from out if town and we had spoke very highly of Robert's….this was certainly NOT the experience we had hoped to show our guest. I am so sorry have to be writing this review but I found it important to let owners know what had happened and just how I disappointing the evening was. I do not see a way to email them directly so I decided to inform them in this manner. I am hoping this was a fluke all will be back to normal soon. This is usually a great neighborhood restaurant and I hate to see it lose customers and business if this type food and...

This is my second time eating here. The first time the service was fine but the food was mediocre. Today though was absolutely brutal. We were greeted and sat immediately, and that is the only positive part of this review. We waited with only menus for quite a while, I didn’t pay attention to exactly how long but we had to make eye contact with our server to finally be acknowledged. About the time she got to us to take drink orders we were ready to order our food. She informed us that the coffeemaker had shorted out. We all wanted coffee, as it was brunch. No apology. We were debating about leaving at that point while the server was there taking our order, but we said, “well we’re here so might as well stay.” In hindsight that would’ve been a wonderful time for our server to mention that food would be taking awhile as there was only one cook making breakfast for a full house. That definitely would’ve been the dealbreaker to leave. We placed our order. And waited and waited and waited and waited. While waiting, my boyfriend’s sister offered to get us coffee from Dunkin Donuts. I wouldn’t have done that myself but that’s what she decided and I would have to say the coffee was the best part of our brunch. About the time the food came out, they forgot some items. One person didn’t get exactly what she ordered. I had to get up and ask for butter and jam. The food was mediocre but we were starving so ate everything. We get the check, not so much a discount. Well they did take off the decaf the bf’s sister ordered that wasn’t affected by the shorted out coffeemaker. Not even any discount or acknowledgement that they all dropped the ball. I get that there was only one chef and the coffeemaker short which wasn’t the server’s fault but not having our order taken in a timely fashion, getting orders wrong, and how they handled the snafu was entirely under their control. They knew we weren’t happy and made no attempt to fix anything. They even ARGUED with my bf’s mom about what we did order vs didn’t order as they billed us wrong. I got the sense they gave up on us early on, conceding to the fact they weren’t going to be tipped well. Now I have been a server for a long time and my now ex was a restaurant manager. I know that things happen that are out of their control but come on. Mistakes can happen and do happen as we are all human. It’s how you handle the mistakes. I would never step foot in there again, which is a shame because it’s local family run establishment and it’s close to my bf’s place. The zero dollar tip they received was earned, and that’s saying a lot because we historically have always...

I've got two words for you and that's all you need to hear: San Marzano! Period! Tonight was only the second time I've stopped by this restaurant, the first time was about two months ago when I was craving a Sub.....wow! Their Italian Sub (toasted of course) was one of the best sandwiches I've had outside of NY in years. So tonight I decided to bring my wife with me so we could explore more of the menu.... gotta try the pizza, right?!?

We started off with their Calamari with marinara for dipping, and it was very tasty. Not rubbery like some places offer after the little guy has been over cooked by 22mins. So, Gold star there.

Next, we shared a Caprese salad....double wow! The mozzarella was fresh, and the Basil was whole leaf! Nice touch indeed. And here's the kicker, they use a decent quality Balsamic and Olive Oil to boot, something extremely rare this day and age. Makes you think that the owners really care about what they serve their customers, a pride that exists in most Italians kitchens across the globe. Double gold stars here!

Next, my wife had their Gnocchi and before she could even sniff the sauce I had my fork into a couple of those doughy delights! The first thing that hit me was the flavor of the sauce. This was no ordinary sauce either, this clearly contained the tell-tale signature of fine Sam Marzano's. Now you tell me, who uses San Marzano's anymore outside of the top restauants in NYC, Chicago, or LA? In fact, we've eating in several Italian restaurants across Italy and didn't find too many restaurants that used them either. San Marzano's have that distinct flavor that are only present in the tomato's that are grown in a specific region of Italy. My palate picks up notes of sweet red grapes.....there's nothing like it. This alone will have me coming back to Robert's moving forward when I need that Italian food fix and I don't feel like cooking. Triple Gold Star here!

We can't wait to get back to Robert's so we can explore more of their menu. People, you don't know me from Adam, but trust a fellow Yellper on this one, if you're in the mood for some quality Italian food served by a family who takes pride in what they place in front of you, you've got to come here. Just drive past the OG and point your GPS towards Littleton and you won't be disappointed. Oh, excellent garlic knots too, and their slice of cheese pizza was very tasty.....good mozzarella and a nice touch with the chopped...